Zuko's Jealousy
by chocobeer
Summary: Zuko's in the gAang, Katara gets a date in with Haru, and Zuko gets jealous! T for swearing. On temporarily permenant hiatus - read at your own risk!
1. Chapter 1

Ok, this is my first attempt at Zutara fiction. Any type of fiction, for that matter. Actually, any type of writing period. So go easy on me.

This is going to be pretty light-hearted for the first half, then get kinda-sorta darker for the rest. And there's only going to be 4 or 5 chapters.

Since I wrote this before The Earth King, it's kinda OOC now. But basically what I thought was going to happen was –

The gAang tries to get to the earth king to tell him what happening.

The Dai Li stop them.

Zuko, with his new-fangled change of heart, finds them and helps them out of the city.

Iroh opts to stay behind because he wants to keep making tea.

The Dai Li are still Chasing them, because in addition to telling everyone about the eclipse, they are telling everyone that Long Feng is controlling the earth king, and all that other good stuff.

Now, without further ado –

* * *

Chapter 1

_Why is he so mean to me?_

It had been a few weeks since Zuko had started traveling with them, and Katara still couldn't stand him.

She was actually surprised at herself. She thought, if anyone, Sokka would be the most distrustful of them, but he had accepted Zuko with (grudgingly) open arms. He trusted Aang's judgment, and was eager to have another teenage boy in their group. He wanted to have someone else to talk to about girls, weapons, food, and whatever the hell it is adolescent boys talk about. (A/N - I, for the record, am a girl)

Toph was indifferent, as long as he could take care of himself, and Aang was ecstatic to "finally get the chance to be friends with him, just like a hundred years ago."

Katara had tried to be nice to him, but for some reason, though he was nice enough to everyone else, he acted like an immature bastard to her. No matter how polite she was, no matter how many times she offered him help, or cooked him dinner, he insulted her, mocked her, and embarrassed her every chance that he got.

_All I've ever done…actually, I never actually did anything to him that the others didn't do. So why is he singling _me_ out? Why is he being so damn mean to _me?

As she was thinking this, she walked into the market, with Zuko following her closely.

The group had decided that Katara needed a guard. She briefly replayed the scene in her mind, trying to see if anything she could've said might have convinced them to let her go alone.

* * *

"I'm not letting you go alone, Katara."

"Sokka, I'm a big girl. Would you like me to remind you how well I can take care of myself?"

"What do you – OW! That was uncalled for!"

"You were practically begging for a smack, Snoozles, don't pretend to be innocent."

"Sokka's right, Katara. With the Dai Li still after us, no one should go anywhere alone."

"But, Aang, I can take care of myself! I DO NOT need a babysitter."

"Hmm…although it does seem like you have the maturity of a baby…"

"No one asked you, Zuko."

"Please, Katara. Just to get a load off our minds. We already have enough to worry

about."

"…Ok, Aang. I guess if it means that much to you…"

"Good! You can take Zuko!"

"Wait, what? I don't want to take him!"

"What, scared I'll tie you to another tree?"

"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, PRINCY!"

"C'mon, Sugar Queen, just take him. He doesn't bite."

"Every one else is tired, just take him."

"FINE!"

* * *

At this point, she had stormed away, only to return a few seconds later, blushing, because

she had forgotten her water skin. This, of course had opened up a whole new topic for Zuko to taunt her about. For most of the way there, he had kept up a constant string of accusations and goads - "…a good job of protecting yourself, without your water pouch!"… "You'd be lucky to have me here…"

Eventually he had gotten bored when she didn't react. They were well into the marketplace now, so Katara could ignore him by looking for bargains. And Zuko trailed her silently, no doubt trying to think of other rude remarks.

As Katara looked lazily at a sale in a butcher store, she absentmindedly asked, "What do you think of possum-chicken again tonight? I could make my special dish again…" She immediately cringed, berating herself for giving him ammo to insult her with. She didn't know how, but he was going to take her innocent comment and turn it against her.

A mocking smirk formed itself on his face. "Oh, that was possum-chicken last night? I couldn't tell. It tasted more like ostrich horse feed."

She was _sooooo_ sick of him. That was the last straw. She was going to give him a piece of her mind. But just as she was about to blow up at him, a hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around. Behind her, she heard Zuko draw his swords move forward.

"Katara! It's so good to see you!" cried a familiar voice.

She smiled up and hugged him "Haru! Long time, no see! What have you been –"

"Ahem."

Katara was startled from her reunion by Zuko's polite cough behind her. She glared back at him.

"Yes?"

"Who exactly is this?" he asked, with a threatening look in his eye. She noticed he still had his swords drawn.

Oh. Right. She hastily introduced them. "Haru, this is…Li." Zuko cocked his eyebrow at his fake name. "We met with him in Ba Sing Se, and he offered to journey with us. Li, this is Haru, an earthbender that we met in our travels."

Even as she was talking, she could see both of them eying the other suspiciously. It almost looked like they were sizing each other up. She just wrote it off as being a weird guy thing.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds after Katara stopped talking, but then Haru, with a somewhat forced-looking smile, held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Li."

Zuko looked at the proffered hand for a second before slowly putting his swords back in their sheath and taking it. He remained unsmiling.

"The pleasure is all mine." Katara mentally winced – she could hear the sarcasm – but why?

Katara looked back and forth between the boys. It looked like they were trying to stare each other down, while simultaneously trying to rip the others' arm off. She mentally sighed. It must be another guy thing.

The second she cleared her throat, both boys dropped hands and looked at her.

"So…" she said, trying to find some way to fill the awkward silence. "Haru! Why are you so far away from your village? Don't they still need your help?"

Haru smiled at her. "Oh, no, we kicked those filthy firebenders out a while ago. The earthbenders gave them a little taste of their own medicine and they fled with their tails between their legs. All fire nation citizens are cowards, after all."

Zuko made a motion to reach for his swords, but Katara quickly trod on his foot, and gave him a threatening look. She was surprised, however, to see how close he had gotten.

She turned quickly away, smothering the blush that rose in her cheeks, and turned back to Haru. He was still talking, oblivious to her temporary discomfort.

"…and then I thought, 'That sounds really fun!' So now I'm on my way to Ba Sing Se to try out!"

Katara did a double take. "Wait – are you going to try and get into the _Dai Li_?"

Haru smiled at her. "Yeah…why, do you think I'm not good enough?"

Katara laughed uneasily. "Actually, no. You see, we just came from Ba Sing Se, and the

Dai Li…well, it's a long story."

Haru's grin got even wider. "Why don't we discuss it over dinner tonight?"

Katara's eyes widened. "You mean like a d-"

The earthbender started to grin, but stopped. "Oh, no," he said hastily. "Just to talk."

She was about to answer when she felt an arm wrap itself protectively around her shoulder and pull her close. She nearly jumped out of her skin, then realized it was Zuko.

_Hmm…not unpleasant at all…he _is_ very muscular…_

Wait. Is he trying to make it seem like we're…Gods! 

Katara glared up at him. He wasn't even looking at her – he was staring at Haru, his eyes narrowed.

"Actually," he drawled out, "Katara promised that she would make her special chicken tonight." At this he looked at her. "And you wouldn't go back on a promise, would you?"

She nearly gasped. He was _just_ telling her that he hated her cooking, especially her chicken. How _dare_ he try and use that as an excuse to keep her from going on a d…out to dinner with a good friend?

The waterbender glared at him before shrugging his arm off her shoulder and smiling sweetly at Haru.

"I'd love to, Haru." At this, she could see an almost invisible glance that he sent at Zuko – did she see…triumph? It couldn't have been.

Haru smiled, looking excited. "Great! I'll meet you here, and sun down."

Katara smiled too. "I'll see you then."

The boy gave her one last smile, then turned and disappeared into the crowd.

She gave it a few seconds, before turning to Zuko, who was still looking to where Haru had disappeared, looking…jealous?

"Li?" Katara asked sweetly.

He turned to her, the jealously on his face disappearing.

She slapped him.

His blank expression was replaced by one of fury. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"

She looked at his furious face inches from her's, and reminded herself to show no fear.

"That," she said slowly and deliberately, "was for insulting my _good_ friend (he flinched when she emphasized good), insulting me, embarrassing me, and then TRYING TO

MAKE A MOVE ON ME!" Even though she tried to keep her cool, she ended up shouting the last few words. A couple of pigeons flew away in fright, and the whole market place fell silent, mostly because the fountain in the middle of the square had just exploded.

Zuko smirked. "And I thought _I_ had anger problems."

Katara turned heel and stomped out of the market, not caring if he was following her.

When he caught up, he looked vaguely annoyed. "By the way, I was trying to make you

stop because he seemed a bit suspicious to me."

Then he smirked. "And next time, tell me where your going before you stomp away."

That was it. She would teach _him_. Katara tackled him off of the path, catching him completely by surprise and knocking him over. She got in a few good punches before he managed to pin her to the ground, her hands on either side of her head. Then suddenly, she had a thought.

"And to think," she said casually, "that you did all those things because you were jealous."

Zuko froze a look of shock on his face. The shock quickly changed to anger, and he jumped up off of her, like he had been burned.

"_Jealous_?" he asked scathingly. "Why would I be jealous of that little mediocre bender of a…PRETTY BOY?"

She smirked. She had hit a nerve, and they both knew it. "Oh, it's just that he gets to take me out to dinner tonight. We're going to have _soooo_ much fun."

She nearly laughed when she saw the emotions flashing over his face. Sweet, sweet revenge…

"Why would I want to take _you_ on a date?" he asked scornfully, obviously trying to get his act together.

"Well," she said walking around him, trailing her fingers over his arms, "its probably because I'm _sooo_ nice, and _such_ a good fighter, and the _most beautiful _girl you'll ever meet, and," here she stopped, and leaned toward him, moving her head close to his and meeting his eyes, "I'm an _excellent_ kisser."

_Oh, how the mighty have fallen._ Katara thought triumphantly as she saw Zuko's emotions running through his eyes, the main one being desire.

_Wait, what if he really does like me?_

Hah! Him liking you!? Never in a million years. No, he's just a normal teenage boy, and what teenage boy wouldn't like a pretty girl rubbing her hands all over their arms and flirting with them?

_Wait…FLIRTING????_

Oh, shit.

She backed up immediately.

_Great, more ammo for insults against me. I will _never _live this down._

As she cursed her stupidity, she noticed that Zuko had not stopped staring at her.

Deciding to play it out as long as she could, she leaned in and whispered into his ear

"But you don't like that in a girl, do you?" and then turning away and walking towards their campsite, trying not to run, and sure any second he would come up behind her and make a snide remark.

But she made it all the way there without him catching up. She almost sighed with relief when she saw it – surely he wouldn't mock her when she was surrounded by the others?

As she was explaining who she was meeting and why she didn't have food to the others, Zuko stumbled into the campsite, still looking a little dazed, but face clearing when he saw the others.

Katara finally managed to get the message across to her fellow travelers, and started getting ready for the date-that-wasn't-a-date.

* * *

Since Zuko had started traveling with the group, he couldn't stop thinking about her. The way she talked, the way she moved…he was completely smitten. Which really pissed him off. Every night, he would stay up late tending the fire, and just stare at her for hours. During the day, of course, he was as rude as possible to her.Maybe I'll get over it…maybe if I'm mean it'll just go away…(of course Zuko wouldn't really know how to handle a crush like a 16 year old. Probably the last real crush he'd had (not counting Jin) was Mai, when he was 10. And just look how well he handled the Jin situation) 

But no. Each day he fell into a deeper infatuation with her, and it was on the day of the market he realized that he had fallen deeply, and irreversibly, in love.

_Damn, _he thought absently, as he watched her argue with her brother about whether or not she needed a guard to go shopping, _she's beautiful when she's angry._

He thought hazily that she was beautiful all the time, before mentally smacking himself.

_Don't get deeper in than you already are, Zuko._ He actually started listening to the conversation when she smacked her brother with a waterwhip.

"…I don't need a babysitter."

He smirked as he instinctively came up with a good comeback. "Hmm…although it does seem like you have the maturity of a baby."

He was rewarded when she glanced in his direction, and only his firm control of his emotions, through years of meditation, kept him from blushing. He felt like he could fly, when her sapphire eyes met his – if only he could…"

"No one asked you, Zuko."

Her comment brought him down to earth. Ok, he was in love. He would have to push that into the little corner of his brain where he kept all of his other uncontrollable emotions, and only take it out and look at when she wasn't nearby. Or awake, at least.

He tuned back in when he heard his name.

"…take Zuko!" Aang said cheerfully.

Katara looked shocked, and not at all pleased. "Wait, what? I don't want to take him!"

Zuko felt slightly hurt, but reminded himself that he was indifferent to the entire thing.

He decided to taunt her about it.

"What, scared I'll tie you to another tree?" he asked snidely.

"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, PRINCY!!!!" He nearly laughed out loud at her face when she turned on him, scarlet from embarrassment, but still furious. Zuko listened as the others convinced her to take him with her. In the end, she stomped out of the clearing, only to come back a few seconds later when she remembered to bring her water pouch.

The firebender smirked inwardly, knowing that this would give him enough tormenting topics to keep taunting her for the entire trip there. He could tell she knew too, because she glanced at him in embarrassment as they were leaving.

As soon as they were out of earshot, he started mocking her. After a walking for a while with no reaction from her, he got bored and decided to stop.

Zuko watched Katara view everything with a buyer's air, impressed with her concentration on the boring prices of food.

"What do you think of possum-chicken again tonight? I could make my special dish again…"

He knew what was expected of him, but he almost cringed at the thought. Katara was actually a good cook, though he would never let her know it.

Zuko managed a smirk. "Oh, that was possum-chicken last night? I couldn't tell. It tasted more like ostrich horse feed."

He watched as it looked like she was steeling herself to say something back, but was interrupted when a teenage boy put his hand on her shoulder and spun her around. He quickly drew his swords, ready to defend her if the boy was going to try anything dodgy.

He was shocked when the boy greeted her by name, and she smiled at him and – _embraced him?_ Zuko felt like he just got kicked in the ribs, and a little green monster was born in his chest. It roared and tried to escape, but Zuko quickly locked it away and did not let the slightest jealousy cross his face.

"Haru! Long time, no see! What have you been –"

Since she was obviously ignoring him, he decided to remind her he existed.

"Ahem."

She looked around at him, confusion and annoyance in her face.

He looked pointedly at this _boy_, holding his crush in his arms. He could feel the threatening look he had in his eyes. "Who is this?"

Katara looked slightly embarrassed, but covered it up by introducing them.

"Haru (so _that_ was the boy's name – how wussy), this is…Li." Zuko raised his eyebrow at her, which she ignored. He probably wasn't an old boyfriend (the pain from the earlier kick in the ribs lessened slightly), if she didn't trust him enough with his real name.

Now she was introducing the boy.

"Li, this is Haru, an earthbender that we met in our travels."

As she was talking, Zuko eyed Haru suspiciously, sizing him up. An earthbender, huh?

Not a very good one, by the looks of it. He was rather scrawny, with an annoying amount of hair. He saw the boy doing the same thing, trying to pick out his weaknesses, no doubt trying to figure out what his relationship with Katara was. He obviously had some interest in the girl, Zuko could sense it in the way he glanced at her, talked to her, the way he had held her…

He snapped out of his thoughts when Haru held out his hand to shake, saying politely

"Nice to meet you, Li." This was obviously for Katara's benefit – if it was just the two of them, they most likely would have leapt at each other's throats; battling to the death over the girl who stood between them, who was now looking at Zuko expectantly. He sighed inwardly, sheathed his swords, and grasped the other boy's hand. He could feel Haru trying to gauge his strength, while trying to stare him down. Zuko did the same

_Hmm…he is stronger than he looks, but not as strong as me!_ He then focused his attention on the eyes of the boy. Usually he was very good at reading people through their eyes, but Haru's eyes were…strange. For a second he noticed, behind the suspicion and threat, there was…nothing. A blank look. But as soon as he saw it, Katara cleared her throat. They both dropped their hands and looked at her.

"So…" she said, trying to fill the awkward silence. "Haru! Why are you so far away from your village? Don't they still need your help?"

So something had happened to his village? She had probably helped them get rid of a flood, or something of that sort.

Haru looked at her and smiled. Zuko moved closer to her, glaring at him. Haru ignored him.

"Oh, no, we kicked those filthy firebenders out a while ago. The earthbenders gave them a little taste of their own medicine and they fled with their tails between their legs. All fire nation citizens are cowards, after all."

How dare he? Insulting fire nation citizens – as if he knew them. Almost unconsciously, he reached for his swords, ready to teach the impertinent boy a lesson. Then he felt Katara step on his foot, and remembered that he didn't care what the boy thought of firebenders. When Katara glanced back at him, he saw the threatening look she was giving him turn to one of shock, then, embarrassment. He just barely caught the blush on her cheeks as she turned away.

Now the idiot earthbender was talking about why he had left his village, unaware of the other two's close proximity.

"…and then I thought, 'That sounds really fun!' So now I'm on my way to Ba Sing Se to try out!"

Zuko saw Katara do a double take. "Wait – are you going to try and get into the _Dai Li_?"

Zuko nearly laughed. The stupid boy actually thought he had a chance to get into the group that had the most advanced benders in the _entire Earth Kingdom?_ He really was stupider than he looked.

Haru smiled at her again (jeez, his constant happiness was really starting to get on Zuko's nerves.) "Yeah…why, do you think I'm not good enough?"

Was he _flirting_ with her? Zuko narrowly avoided punching him in the face. He settled for moving closer to Katara.

Katara gave an uneasy laugh. "Actually, no. You see, we just came from Ba Sing Se, and the Dai Li…well, it's a long story."

Haru smiled winningly. "Why we discuss it over dinner tonight?"

Zuko's brain froze for a second, then almost exploded. _The pretty boy_ was asking her on a date. The pretty boy was asking _her_ on a date. The pretty boy was asking her on a _date_.

The little monster nearly broke free, but Zuko held him back.

He realized that Katara was thinking along the same lines.

"You mean like a d-" she started to say.

The earthbender's grin got even wider, but saw Zuko glaring at him. "Oh, no," he said hastily. "Just to talk." (liar)

Zuko saw that she was about to answer yes, and, before he could debate what he was about to do, he snaked his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. He could feel her fragile body pressed up against his, but pushed his desire out of his mind as he desperately tried to think of an excuse to keep her away from that…_boy_.

"Actually," he drawled out, "Katara promised that she would make her special chicken tonight." He almost winced. That was definitely the lamest excuse of all the lame excuses he had ever given in his life.

Zuko then looked at her, and saw her expression was full of indignity, anger, and embarrassment.

"And you wouldn't go back on a promise, would you?" He saw her embarrassment completely vanish, to be replaced by anger. She glared at him once more before shrugging his arm off. Ouch.

He watched, almost heartbroken as she smiled at the earthbender (the snotty, conniving, pretty boy, irritatingly-peppy, bastard earthbender), and said in her sweet, pretty voice:

"I'd love to, Haru."

Zuko nearly died right there (why can't she talk to _me _in that voice?), but decided to live long enough to kill the earth boy when he gave him a triumphant glance.

The bastard smiled, looking excited. "Great! I'll meet you here, and sun down."

Katara smiled too (damnit, why does she keep smiling at him?!). "I'll see you then."

Zuko watched the boy go, just barely controlling his jealousy – the stupid green thing.

_I wouldn't want to be the earth bastard when the monster-thing gets out. If he knows what's good for him, he will be far, far away._

Then he heard the sweet voice again.

"Li?"

Oh Gods, she's talking to me! No emotion, no emotion… 

He turned to face her, struggling to keep the jealously from his face. He was almost glad when Katara distracted him by backhanding him as hard as she could. The anger drown the little demon in his chest, and he found it much easier to control than his stupid hormonal urges towards her.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" he shouted, getting right up in her face.

Zuko could see that she was calm, even though his yelling had scared half of the inhabitants of the marketplace.

"That," she said slowly and deliberately, "was for insulting my _good_ friend (he flinched unintentionally when she emphasized good), insulting me, embarrassing me, and then TRYING TO MAKE A MOVE ON ME!"

He was extremely hurt and offended, although he didn't let it show. She didn't like it when his muscular arm was wrapped around her shoulder? _He_ certainly did – she fit perfectly into him. But he controlled his emotions, and, noticing that the fountain behind her had exploded, decided he needed to make a snappy comeback.

"And I thought _I_ had anger problems," he smirked.

Katara's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she stomped out of the marketplace. Zuko was taken aback by her sudden move, and it took him a minute to catch up to her. She was so furious, he decided he should at least _try_ to make her understand…

"By the way, I was trying to make you stop because he seemed a bit suspicious to me." (Partially true, after all. The bastard's eyes _were_ very strange…). Then, of course, he decided that a snide comment was in order.

"And next time, tell me where your going before you stomp away," he smirked.

Zuko was taken aback when she shrieked in rage, and turned to tackle him off of the path, landing on top of him (not angry, or displeased, just shocked). She managed to punch him in the face a few times before he could flip them over without hurting her.

Then, she got calm again, which worried Zuko. If she was calm in a situation like this, _he_ was undoubtedly in trouble.

"And to think," she said casually, "that you did all those things because you were jealous."

Zuko couldn't control his emotions – he had expected a lot of things, but _that_? Was he _that_ obvious? No, he couldn't be. She was just bluffing. So he had to be angry.

He managed to rearrange into an expression that he hoped looked like anger, and jumped off of her (damn…I was just getting comfortable too).

"_Jealous_?" he asked scathingly. At this the previously drowned little monster leaped back to life and broke free of its cage.

"Why would I be jealous of that little mediocre bender of a…PRETTY BOY?"

Katara grinned.

_Oh man. She's got me._

He hoped his death would be quick and painless.

"Oh, its just that he gets to take me out to dinner tonight. We're going to have _soooo_ much fun."

Damn gods. You never liked me, did you? 

The monster in Zuko's chest roared as he tried to regain his composure. All he managed was a lame insult.

"Why would I want to take _you_ on a date?" in what he hoped sounded like a scornful voice.

"Well," she said walking around him, trailing her fingers over his arms (DAMNIT!!! WHY DID SHE INSIST ON TORTURING HIM?), "its probably because I'm _sooo_ nice (yes!), and _such_ a good fighter (yes!!!), and the _most beautiful _girl you'll ever meet (YES!!!!!), and," here she stopped, and leaned toward him, moving her head close to his and meeting his eyes, "I'm an _excellent_ kisser."

Zuko reeled inwardly.

Oh shit…she's completely right…and she's RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME! 

_**FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T DO ANYTHING! SHE WOULD NEVER FORGIVE YOU!**_

_But she's _right there!_ It would be so easy just to lean down a bit and – _

DON'T THINK ABOUT IT – 

But it was too late. A combination of her warmth, her proximity, and the fact that she was acting so gods damned _sexy_ had thrown his stupid love struck mind into chaos. In fact, if she hadn't chosen that second to step back, he probably would've kissed her right there, and all of his hard work of being mean and sarcastic to her would've gone out the window. Even with her stepping back and turning away from him, he couldn't stop the images of them kissing and doing (ahem) _more_ (A/N: I'll leave the details to all your nasty minds :-P) running through his mind. The only advantage of this was the fact that the stupid monster thing had settled down for a couple seconds, long enough for him to get his face under control.

Just as she leaned into him again. (damn, damn, damn, DAMN!)

Zuko felt her lean up to whisper into his ear. He closed him eyes, savoring the feel of her in his arms again.

"But you don't like that in a girl, do you?"

She then turned abruptly and walked quickly back towards the campsite.

He merely gaped after her form, then collapsed on the ground.

DAMNIT! What am I going to do? I can hardly control myself… 

You'll just have to learn with it. You've dealt with overbearing emotions before, just…ignore them or something.

Yeah, that worked like a charm, didn't it? 

**_Well, just deal with it when it comes up. Maybe being _really_ rude to her will make things better._**

No, then she'll just get pissed and do it again… 

Zuko swore mentally, realizing what he had just done.

_I've just exposed my worst weakness…shit, I am soooo screwed the next time I see her._

Thinking of this, he waited as long as he could before getting back to the camp.

When he finally got there, he saw that Katara was in deep discussion with her brother Aang, and decided to keep out of sight as well as he could.

When she _finally_ left to get ready, he relaxed.

* * *

A/N – Do you like it? Is it good-ish? I've already written the second chapter, so I'll put it up soon. But if you have any issues with the style, or language, or whatever (or if you just want to tell me that you love the story so much) PLEASE REVIEW!!!! If you want to yell at me for how awful this pairing is, save it. Zutara is my ship, so don't read if you can't take it.

Preview –

Zuko gets relationship advice from Sokka!

Katara has a fight with her conscience!

And much more!

Zukofangirl0802


	2. Chapter 2

A/N – O my gosh, guys, I am soooooo sorry that I haven't updated sooner. was being evil and not letting me upload documents. whispers They're in on a plot to keep me from finishing my story. Along with my parents. And my teachers. And the government. eye twitches How's that for a conspiracy theory?

I know it seems like the Zutara is moving fast here, but this is sort of _after _they 'fall in love,' and this is just them coming to terms with it. That, and the story is only going to be about 5 chapters.

Also, I know that Zuko is kinda OOC, but I have an excuse! I mean, an explanation. His teenage hormones, so long dormant, have woken up and are now screwing with the order of his normal Pompous-Ass Prince-ness. Poor Zuko can't handle the stress, and therefore goes crazy, and does things that it is not in his character to do. So pay no mind. Unless, of course, you like this Zuko, then tell me!

Ok, addressing some things from the reviews. No, Haru isn't really going to be _evil_. Not _really_. But if you want to find out what happens, pay attention to mentions of his character, nudge nudge, wink wink.

And there will be no Jet in this story. He was originally going to take Katara on the date, but then he died.  So I had to settle for Haru. And I liked how it turned out.

One last thing. THANK YOU SOOOOOO FLIPPEN MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS!!!!!!! You all made a nube like me feel loved. I am going to print them out and tape them to my ceiling so I can read them every night before I go to bed. Just keep up the encouragement, and I write the next chapter as fast as my little fingers possibly can. Your words feed my creative spirit better than root beer and chocolate. Insert reason why I love the reviews here . Right. Happy Reading!

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, Zuko would never wear a shirt. AND HE WOULD STILL BE BUFF!!! (What is up with that???? He better start working out again when he joins the gAang!!!) So I don't own it.

Zuko sighed as Katara finally left the clearing. Now, at last, he could tell the others what was on his mind.

"Guys…" everyone in the clearing looked at him expectantly. "Um, I don't think that

Katara should go out with that earthbending bas- I mean, that Haru guy."

Sokka and Aang exchanged knowing glances, while Toph turned her blank eyes on him, smirking.

"Whatsa matter, Scarface?" she asked mockingly. "Feeling a little _jealous?_"

Zuko cursed inwardly.

_Surely I'm not _that _obvious._

"I am _not _jealous!" he yelled. When Toph smirked wider, he realized that he had made the same mistake that he had with Katara, and attempted backtrack.

"I am _not_ jealous!" he said, ignoring the part of him (the little green part) that was trying shout out he _was_ jealous, and what was she going to do about it, "I just think there was something fishy about him. His eyes were strange…" (partly true)

"OK, Scarface," she said, raising her hands in defeat, but still smirking. "Just wondering…"

Now Sokka put his two cents in. "We just thought you might be a little jealous, because you know…" he made a ridiculous kissy face, "you're in _looooooOOOOOooooove_." He drew out the word, making it multiple syllables.

Zuko stiffened, and he felt his heart rate speed up.

_Stay calm, stay calm…_

"What the hell gave you that idea?" he snapped. _So much for staying calm…_

Aang took it from there.

"Oh, no reason." An evil grin split his face. "Its just you stare at her an awful lot when you think no one is looking…"

Sokka interrupted. "And you're acting like I did when I had my first crush…when I was _six_."

They were right. Damn them all. Zuko managed one last feeble retort.

"I _do not_ have a crush on her…"

Toph snorted. "Stupid, I can tell you're lying from over here. Keep your heart rate down, will ya? I'm gonna go deaf _and_ blind."

"I…you know what? FINE!" Suddenly he was angry, for no apparent reason. The stupid monster thing had finally escaped from his chest, fought off his pride, and now had a stranglehold on his vocal chords.

"YES! I AM MADLY IN LOVE WITH KATARA! I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT HER! AND IM GOING TO KILL THAT BASTARD EARTHBENDER FOR

ASKING HER OUT BEFORE I COULD! HAPPY NOW?!?!?!?"

Aang and Sokka took one look at his furious face and burst out laughing. Toph's grin got wider.

"There ya go, Scarface. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem."

Sokka stopped laughing for a second. "Seriously, Zuko, if you want to ask her out, then you're going about it entirely the wrong way. Katara hates your guts right now."

Zuko's anger faded, and he suddenly felt extremely tired.

"I know. I just…don't know how to act around girls." He looked up desperately. The monster still had a hold on his vocal chords, and was now fighting his pride off tooth and claw to speak. "Sokka…will you teach me?"

Aang stopped laughing and nearly fell off his perch in shock. Sokka's jaw dropped to his knees. Even Toph's normally blank eyes widened a little in shock.

Zuko looked around at the surprised faces. "What?"

Sokka nervously cleared his throat. "Well, um…it's just that…even though you've become less of a prick than when you started traveling with us, you're still kinda…stuck up." Zuko glared at him. "It's true! You haven't actually asked for help or anything…until now."

Then he smiled widely. "So I know if you swallowed your pride to ask for help, you must really like Katara! I'll help you." He leaned in conspiratorially.

"Honestly, I'd rather have her fall in love with you than with Haru. You're a much better fighter." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "And I can keep my eyes on you both." Zuko

shuddered. He wouldn't put it past Sokka to sleep between them on their wedding night.

Sokka put on his brilliant smile once again. "But we'll talk about that later!" He threw an arm around Zuko's shoulders, making him look ridiculous because he was at least 5 inches shorter than the firebender.

"The first thing you need to know about girls is a lot of times they speak in codes." He guided them into the trees, walking away from Toph and Aang. "When a girl looks upset, but says things are ok, that means things _are not_ ok. You should ask her again. Then she will either break down into tears and throw herself into your arms, or…" They faded out of earshot.

Aang looked at Toph. "His advice is has gotten better since he gave some to me. He told me to act surly around Katara to get her to like me."

Toph looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, that's a pretty stupid advice…"

Aang looked at her suspiciously, then grinned. "Yeah," he said innocently. "You should be nicer to someone you like."

Toph scowled. "Shut up, Twinkle-toes." She threw a rock at him.

Katara sighed in relief as she sank into the river.

_Finally, an excuse to take a bath._

As she scrubbed the filth of travel out of her skin, she puzzled over Haru and Zuko's strange behavior that day.

_They both seemed really tense…like they wanted to spring at each other's throats. But they never even met before!_

Of course, her smart ass conscience chose that moment to speak.

**_Don't be naïve, Katara. They were going to fight over _you**

_What?_

_**Stop trying to play dumb. You could tell that they both liked you.**_

_Well, it's obvious that Haru liked me, he asked me out! But Zuko…he's always been such a jerk!_

_**Yeah! Doesn't that remind you of anyone…?**_

_Huh?_

If the voice had eyes, it would have rolled them.

_**Here's a flashback, Commander Clueless.**_

_A younger Katara is sitting outside in the snow, while a boy looking a bit older leans against the wall of the village. She is practicing waterbending, and he is watching her._

Katara stared at her long-time tormentor, Hanuk, in fury for at least the tenth time that day.

"What do you mean by that?" she growled through clenched teeth.

Hanuk grinned wolfishly, his blue eyes narrowed and his handsome features twisted into a sneer.

"I just mean that playing with magic water is all well and good, but girls aren't really cut

out for that kind of work. You should leave the fighting to men, and just go back to the cooking tent where you belong."

_A different day. Katara looks about a year older, and she is in a tent, sewing. A different boy is in there with her, and he looks nervous._

Katara smiled at the boy across from her. "Yes Nanu? What is it?"

The boy looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Well…um…I…you see…"

"Yes?" she said, a little more forcefully.

"Um…ireallylikeyouanddoyouwanttodoanactivitysometime?"

"What?"

He sighed. "I really like you, Katara, and I was wondering if you wanted to do an…activity…sometime?" he finished lamely.

Katara's smile froze, and her brain was in overdrive.

_Crap…I don't like him like that! But how can I put him down gently…?"_

Just then a furious noise came from outside the tent, and Sokka came bursting in, holding Hanuk by his ear.

"Look what I found eavesdropping by the entrance." He smirked and looked at Katara, obviously expecting praise. She ignored him.

"Hanuk," she said coldly. "Nanu and I were just having a nice conversation. _Why_, exactly, where you listening in on it?"

Per usual, Hanuk ignored her and turned to Nanu, who suddenly was very pale.

"YOU BASTARD!!!" he yelled, taking everyone by surprise and scaring Nanu out of his skin. "SHE'S MINE!"

At this he tackled Nanu and began punching him. It took Katara a few seconds to realize what was going on.

_Wait, so, all this time, Hanuk liked me?_

_**I know! Great, isn't it? The immaturity of boys…**_

"STOP!" she yelled.

Everyone in the tent froze, Hanuk in the middle of pummeling Nanu, Nanu twisting his arm. Sokka was poking them both with his spear, trying to break them up but obviously enjoying the fight.

"Ok," she said calmly. "There is a simple way to solve this."

Hanuk and Nanu looked at her expectantly, and Sokka looked annoyed that his entertainment had stopped.

"I don't like either of you, so we can just forget that this ever happened!" She smiled, and then ran out of the tent.

Katara heard shouts behind her, but managed to get into Gran-Gran's hut fast enough that

they didn't catch up.

She locked herself there, and refused to come out until both boys left for the war.

(A/N: Anti-climatic, I know.)

With a flash, she was back in reality, her inner voice radiating smugness.

_Oh…you're right. Hanuk really did act like Zuko... But why couldn't I remember that memory before?_

_**You tried to repress it, for some reason. If I was in charge of your memories, I would have relived it every day. I mean, two cute guys fighting over you. What's not to like?**_

_Wait…if I repressed it, then how did I remember I just then?_

The stupid voice smirked (well, not _really, _but you get the picture) **_Well, I'm a very talented conscience, and I managed to dredge it up. You're not good at hiding things from people. Even yourself._**

Katara sighed. It figured that the little voice in her head would be obnoxious. Because, of course, she really didn't have enough obnoxious voices _outside_ of her head.

At the sound of one of the obnoxious voices she swore.

"…and there is NO good answer to 'do I look fat in this dress?' If she ever asks you that, run far, far away."

What the hell was Sokka doing, tramping through the forest? More importantly, why was he talking to himself about girls? The questions were answered when she heard an indistinct boy voice say something back.

"No," Sokka replied, "if you tell her she looks nice, it'll only make things worse. She'll accuse you of lying, and get even angrier. Just run away."

_It must be Aang. But who would he be asking advice for? I guess he's gotten over me, since he didn't really react when I told him I was going on a date – _

**_You mean a date-that-isn't-a-date _**her voice corrected smugly.

_Whatever. That's not the point. Who would he be asking advice about?_

**It would be nice to find out,** her curiosity put in.

_**I agree with curiosity. It would be an interesting conversation to listen to.**_

_You're my conscience! You're supposed to _stop _me from doing things like listening in on conversations._

_**I had a change of heart. Just grab your clothes and go to the other side of the stream. No one need ever know you heard anything, except you.**_

Before she could debate it anymore, she jumped out of the water, grabbed her dress, and sprinted to the other side of the stream, putting it on hastily. Just as she was hiding herself in a bush, the boys came into view. Sokka was first, swaggering as well as he could with his arm around the shoulder of…Zuko?

_Zuko? Why would he be getting girl advice from Sokka?_

_**Told you he liked you.**_

_It's probably some other girl._

_**Don't be stupid.**_

_Shut up._

Zuko pushed Sokka's arm off his shoulder, and flopped down onto the bank, looking weary. Sokka looked irritated for a second at being snubbed, then sat down next to him.

"What's wrong, Zuzu?"

Zuko sent a glare in his direction, then sighed, and put his head on his knees, staring in

the direction of Katara's bush. She noticed that when his face wasn't in a sneer, he actually was pretty…hott.

_**You see? You like him too.**_

_I do not._

**_You called him hott. With _two t's.**

_So?_

**_So you don't think he's hot, you think he's _hott. _That's a major difference. A majorly _**

_**good difference.**_

She could practically feel her conscience doing the happy dance in her head.

_**Katara and Zuko, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!**_

_Will you shut up? I'm trying to hear what they're saying!_

**_Gosh, it's your mind. _You _keep it down._**

She focused on eavesdropping again.

"…too much stuff to remember, and she already likes someone else. I'm pretty sure I blew it with the whole 'act like a jerk' thing."

Sokka put a hand on Zuko's shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry. She really is too nice for her own good sometimes. If you apologize, and don't do it again, then she'll forgive you."

Zuko sighed. "That's the thing. Katara's too good for me."

Her heart melted a little, and she could feel a blush starting.

_**Told you he was talking about you.**_

_SHUT UP!_

"She's smart, a good fighter, nice, independent…" he sighed again. "Not to mention one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen. (Katara was nearly swooning at this point) With eyes like the-"

"Ok, that's enough! This is my little _sister_ we're talking about."

"Right. Sorry."

Sokka flinched.

"What?"

"All your apologizing and asking for help. It's creeping me out."

Zuko visibly bristled. "I'm trying to be nicer, but if you'd rather me stay a prick, then just say the word!"

Sokka laughed. "Still the irritable fire prince, aren't we?"

Zuko lay back down on the bank. "I'm really trying to change, but it's…hard. I haven't

been this considerate of other people for years."

Sokka looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Look, maybe you should save all those feelings for when you and Katara start going out. Another lesson – if you're touchy-feely around other guys, they'll…"

Katara had heard enough. She quietly crawled away, quickly getting out of earshot of them.

_**So…when are you going to congratulate me on my wonderful perception of teenage boys?**_

_Not now. I need to think._

**_Fine. But I _will_ nag you until I get it later._**

Katara got back to the campsite, got a brush from her bagand started fixing her hair. It

was relaxing, and helped her think.

_So Zuko really does have a crush on me…dumbass, everyone knows that you shouldn't be mean to someone you like._

_**Maybe he didn't know. After all, he didn't have much of a social life before joining us…**_

_Yeah…wait. Didn't I tell you too piss off, conscience?_

There was a noise that sounded like an embarrassed cough.

**_Actually…that was your common sense. She can be a bit…rude sometimes, I'm afraid. _I_ am your conscience, but I was on vacation. She was merely filling in for me._**

Katara groaned, and proceeded to bang her head on a tree for about five minutes.

_**Is that really necessary?**_

_No, but it makes me feel better._

_**Riiiiight. Anyway, the last time Zuko really had interaction with his peers was before he was banished. And even then, he probably didn't have many friends, because he was crown prince. On top of that, his nation and your nation are at war. He must feel very uncomfortable, liking you that way.**_

_You're right. Damnit, it would be so much easier to just hate him._

_**No luck, missie. As your conscience, I demand that you forgive him when he asks you.**_

_FINE! I guess I'll just avoid him for the rest of the day. It's almost sunset, anyway._

She finished getting ready, and was leaving the campsite when Zuko and Sokka walked back in.

"…and that's what you should do when you admit -" Sokka froze, seeing Katara.

"Admit to Katara that I like -"

"LEACHY NUTS!" shouted Sokka, gesturing at her, while Zuko turned around and

blushed scarlet.

"Umm…yeah. I really like those leachy nuts…Yum?"

Katara gave both of them a strange look, then left the clearing, going towards the village.

Zuko sat on the ground and put his face in his hands.

"Way to go Sokka. Now she thinks I'man asshole _and_ insane"

"No, she probably thinks your high on cactus juice or something."

Zuko groaned and lay flat on the ground.

"Its ok, Zuko. I act like that all the time, and she still likes me. You have to remember, even though she's really mature, she is only 14."

"14? I thought she was at least 16!"

"Nope. Anyway, she likes to have a little bit of fun, so if you don't stop being emo and

angsty all the time, she won't go out with you."

Zuko gave him a strange look. "What's emo?"

"Emotional, I think."

"But you just told me emotions were good!"

"_Good _emotions are good. Emo means you're always being depressed and angry and stuff." Sokka held out a hand to silence Zuko. "No more questions! Didn't you notice that Katara left to go on her date-that-isn't-a-date five minutes ago?"

Zuko sighed again. He was doing that a lot lately. "Yeah. I knew it would be too much to ask to keep her from going on the date with that smooth-talking earth bastard."

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "Wait, Haru was smooth talking? That's funny…when I met him, he was really shy and awkward…"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I was trying to tell you before I thought something was wrong with him. And you just thought I was jealous."

Sokka grinned. "But you were jealous, weren't you? He probably just hit puberty, or something. Anyway, I don't want to go chase after Katara to tell her she can't go out to dinner with Haru because you think his eyes are too close together. If you know what's good for you, you wouldn't want to either."

Zuko grunted in agreement. But he was kind of worried. The thing that happened to the bastard's eyes for that second when they were shaking hands…it was wrong. The jealousy, passive for so long, began stirring.

"But something funny happened -"

"No buts. Katara can go on the date, when she comes back I will interrogate her, while you listen. Then we can castrate him together if anything happened."

"Fine," Zuko said grumpily. But he was already planning his escape from the group. "I'm gonna go for a walk and think…" he groped quickly for an excuse "about all those things that you told me."

Sokka beamed proudly. "Yep. I sure gave you a lot to think about, didn't I?"

"Way to go, Scarface. You've done the impossible – inflating his ego even more."

Toph and Aang walked back into the clearing, Toph smirking, and Aang rubbing bruises.

"Where did you guys go?"

"We were -"

"We were getting in some earthbending practice while you guys were busy."

Sokka looked suspiciously between them. Zuko stood up quickly.

"I'll just go on that walk now," he said hastily.

When he was out of sight, he turned in the direction of the village.

_I'll just go check things out…to make sure she's all right…_

Katara had met up with Haru at sunset, just where they planned to meet. He smiled at her.

"You look really nice, Katara." He gave her his arm, and they proceeded to the inn to have dinner.

_He looks really nice too…_

**_But not as nice as Zuko _**sang her common sense.

_Damnit, why did you come back? And why did you lie to me?_

_**I told you I would be back. And technically, I wasn't lying, since I was filling in for your conscience then.**_

_Whatever. Just leave me alone for the date._

**_No can do, ma'am. I _am _your common sense, after all. I can't just _go away.**

_AAAAARRRRRGHHH!!!_

_**That was uncalled for.**_

Now they were at the inn, and Haru sat them down at a table.

"So, now that we're settled, let's catch up, shall we?"

Katara smiled, and told him about their trip to Ba Sing Se.

A/N – Soo…..how was chapter 2? Was it good? Did you like Katara's arguments with herself? I loved writing them, and my friends who read it before said that they were funny. This is definitely the funniest chapter by far. After this, it'll start getting a bit more serious and stuff.

Sorry if I didn't do Toph, Aang and Sokka right. I don't really know their characters. Advice on them is welcome!

Also – to my Avatard friends in _real _life, who read this before I put it online – THANKS A BUNDLE!

Julia

Megan

Joe

Gabby

And DIJO!!! My home skillet biscuit, if you're reading this, CONGRATS ON FINALLY FINDING THE STORY!

Ok, Pleeeeease review! I want your praise! I mean, opinions! kicks ego Seriously, constructive critism is welcome. NOW STOP READING THIS AND REVIEW! NOW!!!

Preview –

We find out why Haru has been acting so weird.

Katara admits that she likes Zuko (only to herself, though)

We see an old 'friend' (nope, not Jet)

Please R&R again!

Zukofangirl0802


	3. Chapter 3

Omigosh! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever, but the season finale totally killed my muse. Only when my friends asked me if I could _please _write the chapter did it recover. (Actually, the polite question was more like a kidnapping, with many colorful threats. Not to mention menacing with sharp, shiny objects that looked rather painful if they came in contact with my skin. But they said please the first time.) So you can thank Megan, Joe, Gabby, Shannon, Julia and Dijo for making me get of my lazy ass and write. (It was mostly Dijo and Julia with the physical threats, though.)

Wow. That was random. I need chocolate…

This chappieseriousness. At least, more seriousness then the ones before. Coughandamajorplottwistcough. And I can't write fight scenes if my life depended on it. Even though it kinda did…rubs bruises from previously mentioned shiny objects

THERE YOU GO JULIA AND DIJO! NOW YOU CAN STOP POKING ME EVERY TIME YOU SEE ME!!!

Tailz the Great, Avatarwolf, 38Aphrodite94, and SilencedProtest get cookies because they left the longest reviews. And Avatarwolf and SilencedProtest get special cookies for mentioning what I was going for in the story. THANKS YOU GUYS!!!

Disclaimer – Avatar equals not mine. Damn.

* * *

Zuko paused for a second outside of the village.

_Is a little hunch really worth spying on Katara and Haru for?_

His jealousy roared in reply.

_Right. That's what I thought._

He snuck into the town, and made a beeline for the inn.

* * *

"…and that's what happened," Katara finished.

She looked at Haru, hoping that her description of all of the Dai Li's awful deeds would sway him. She couldn't see his expression, since his face was in shadows. After he didn't move for a while, she spoke again.

"So you see, Haru, you can't join the Dai Li. They are the enforcers of Long Feng's fascist government."

There was another awkward silence.

"Haru, I'm not insulting you or anything. It's just that I don't want to see you corrupted."

More silence.

"Haru?"

She got out of her seat and went to the other side of the table to get a better view of his face. He had blank look, but his face twitched and it was back to normal. He smiled at her.

"I'm sorry," he said.

_See? He's much more polite than Zuko, _wondering why she had to prove to herself that she did, in fact, like Haru.

_**What happened to the conversation that we heard in the woods?**_

_Right. Damnit._

Haru continued. "It's just a bit of a shock, that a force that is supposed to keep Ba Sing Se safe is really a corrupt personal army of a dictator." He looked at her strangely. "Are you sure that's what you believe?"

"Yes…" she said slowly, slightly annoyed. "Of course. I only spent an hour telling you about how evil they are."

She was taken aback when he smiled widely at her. "In that case, would you join me on a walk?"

"Um…sure."

_What is wrong with him? One minute he's strange and serious, and the next he's cheerful and polite? It makes no sense!_

_**It makes perfect sense, if you think about it.**_

_Who asked you?_

_**Fine. If you haven't figured it out yet, then I'm not going to tell you. You deserve what's coming to you.**_

She ignored the last comment, and focused on having a good time with Haru. On the walk, they reminisced about the good times that had, and the times they had since the last time they saw each other. Everything was back to normal. So by the time she got to the hill, her guard was completely down.

* * *

Zuko had watched them from a small window outside the inn. Katara seemed to be having a perfectly fine time, although she was doing most of the talking

_Damn…it looks like the bastard isn't causing any trouble. Maybe Sokka's right. It must have just been the jealousy._

The emotion in question gave a little snort of anger and distrust.

Better keep an eye on them anyways… 

Then he saw the blank look that Haru gave Katara.

"Ah HA!" he couldn't help but whisper.

Zuko recognized that look: it was the same one he had seen that morning. Just like that morning, however, it quickly disappeared, and the earth bastard said something to Katara.

She frowned and answered. Then the stupid bastard smiled widely and offered her his arm. Katara looked suspiciously at it for a second, then smiled at him and took it.

Zuko watched as they walked out of the inn, and followed them silently on the roof, using all of his mad ninja skills to stay unnoticed. (A/N - 3 3 3 3)

Katara seemed to be enjoying herself now, and he could hear little snatches of the conversation. They seemed to be discussing their journeys and experiences since they last met, as they slowly walked up a large hill.

_Damn _he couldn't help but think. _Hill…by one lone tree…very romantic spot. Especially with the moon. The bastard knows what he's doing. _

Zuko's jealousy was acting up again – _he _wanted to be able to talk to her casually about their travels. _He_ wanted her to laugh at something he said, like she was doing now. _He _wanted her to – _KISS HIM?_

Zuko was frozen with rage for a second, as he watched Katara kiss the GODS DAMNED BASTARD ASSHOLE F#$K#& earthbender. _ON THE LIPS!!! _It felt like someone had ripped out his heart, tore it up, glued it back together, tore it up again, stomped on the pieces, and then set the pieces on fire.

When Zuko regained the capacity to think (about 2 seconds – he had fast recovery time), he desperately looked around to find some reason to take her back to the camp, and never EVER let her see the BASTARD again. He quickly found it.

* * *

Katara smiled at Haru, as he led her by the hand up the hill. She gasped at how pretty the moon was, even though there was only a little sliver left.

While she was gazing up at the moon, Haru moved closer and brushed her hand with his. She looked up questioningly.

"Yes, Haru? What is it?"

He smiled at her. "I just wanted to tell you that I had a really good time tonight."

She smiled at him. "So did I."

**_Even though you couldn't stop thinking of Zuko _**her common sense said obnoxiously.

Katara mentally groaned.

_Way to break the mood._

Now thoughts of Zuko filled her mind, and she couldn't help but wonder where he was.

**_Ha! Gotcha!_** Her common sense made another little tally on the chalkboard in her brain, where it had been keeping score all night. _**Me, 163. You, 0. I really don't see why you're insisting on denying the fact that you like him anymore.**_

_That's it! I'll show you!_

Katara kissed Haru firmly on the lips, wondering again why she was trying to prove herself wrong. She broke away and looked at the ground, unable to meet his eyes.

"I hope we can do this again soon," she murmured quietly, risking a glace at Haru. His expression was blank once again.

_Probably just the shock of being kissed._

She searched for something to say, to fill up the awkward silence. "Um…why don't you join us on our travels? You can train with two master benders, and we'll get to see each other all the time."

_**So you can make Zuko jealous…veeeery devious.**_

_It's not that! I don't care how he feels!_

"Besides, you won't want to join the Dai Li, will you?"

Haru frowned, and was about to speak when he was interrupted by a loud voice.

"KATARA!" it screamed. "GET AWAY FROM HIM! HE'S IN LEAGUE WITH THE DAI LI!"

She turned around angrily, blushing and praying to every god that would listen that Zuko had not seen her kiss Haru.

Not that you care about hurting his feelings, or anything. "What the hell are you doing -" She stopped when she heard a horribly familiar voice behind her, and a familiar pressure around her wrists. 

"Katara, companion of the Avatar, you are under arrest in the name of the Earth King, for spreading malicious rumors and disrupting the peace," Long Feng said into her ear, as he put rock restraints around her wrists.

"HARU!" she screamed. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

* * *

Zuko ran towards Katara, thanking Agni that he had thought to bring his Twin Dao.

_Now, I just need to get to the Other Earth Bastard and take him out, take care of the First Earth Bastard _(his jealousy purred at the thought)_, and then I can carry her back to the camp, no problem._

His plan was foiled before it began, however, by the five Dai Li earthbenders who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

_DAMN IT! And I can't even use my bending…_

He dodged one of the rock gloves that was flying towards him, and destroyed another with his sword, backing himself against the lone tree. Suddenly the air was full of hand-shaped missiles, all coming towards him. It was all he could do to avoid getting hit, let alone land a blow on attackers.

Zuko vaguely heard Katara yelling at the Earth Bastard, and felt a small twinge of triumph and pride.

_I _was _right about Earth Bastard Number One. I told Sokka…_

* * *

When Haru merely stared blankly at Katara, she realized something.

"Oh gods…he's brainwashed, isn't he? You brainwashed him and set him up to do this!"

Suddenly, all the blank looks, the wide smiles, the strange things that Haru would _never_ do made sense.

_**I knew you would come around eventually.**_

YOU KNEW THE ENTIRE TIME?!?! 

**_I was _going _to tell you, but you decided to be rude to me._**

OH MY GOD! I CAN'T EVEN CONTROL MY OWN COMMON SENSE! 

_**I know. You are severely lacking in self-control.**_

That sounds like something Zuko would say… 

With the thought of Zuko, she looked at him. He was fighting five Dai Li members with his broadswords, but not using his firebending. She admired his reflexes as he destroyed rock after rock that was thrown at him, but knew that he would tire quickly.

_He's going to get hurt – and it's all my fault._

_**Yep, it sure is.**_

_You're not helping._

_**Neither are you. You need to give him an advantage somehow. Get someone to fight **_

_**with him… **_

_Who would do that?_

_**He's staring you right in the face.**_

_Oh, right. Thanks._

_**That's what your common sense is for, honey.**_

"Haru!" she shouted loudly. He glanced at her, no emotion crossing his face. "Please, snap out of it! Fight the Dai Li!"

Zuko glared at her. "I don't need that earth bastard's help!" he yelled. Damn his pride.

"Yes you do, you idiot!"

He ignored her and went back to fighting.

* * *

Now he was bubbling with anger.

_I can take care of myself! Doesn't she trust me enough to save her without the help of That Gods Damned Earth Bastard?_

His common sense made one of its rare appearances.

_**Don't be stupid, Zuko. You couldn't even fight off one earth soldier with only your broadswords. The Dai Li are toying with you. Why else would you have made it this long?**_

His pride and jealousy started beating his common sense to a pulp.

_Damn…it's right. They're going to try to capture me. I'll need help to get them out of the way._

As he was debating himself, Zuko felt a lance of pain shoot through one of his arms as a rock glove finally hit it, breaking it.

He let out a cry of pain as he dropped one of the swords, his arm hanging limply by his side.

* * *

Katara watched as Zuko was hit in the stomach with another one of the rock gloves that the Dai Li used. He fell to the ground on his knees, doubled over.

_Oh Gods, he's hurt, and it's my fault…_

_**This is a bad time to say I told you so about the whole you-liking-Zuko thing, huh?**_

"Please, Haru! I need you! Help him, please!" She began to cry. She had never felt this desperate and helpless.

_Please let him be alright…_

With a blink, Haru seemed to snap out of a trance. "Katara…What are you doing here?"

* * *

Through a haze of pain, Zuko noticed that Katara was crying.

_Don't cry, Katara_, he thought fuzzily. _I'll take care of you…don't worry…_

"…Help him, please!" She seemed to be begging the First Earth Bastard to help him.

_I don't need _his _help! _Zuko thought angrily. But when he tried to move, he found had somehow sunk up to his knees in the ground.

**_We've been over this before,_ **his common sense interrupted. Apparently, it was immune

to jealousy and pride, who continued attempting to kill it. **_Yes, you do need his help. _**

**_Now get over your pain and _focus!**

_Yes…show no weakness. Be strong._

Zuko snapped to attention, his training taking over. Katara was talking to the First Bastard…

"Long story short - you were brain washed by the Dai Li, they forced you to turn me in to them, and now my friend is hurt because he tried to rescue me! Oh, and the Dai Li are really the secret army of a corrupt advisor to the Earth King."

"Don't listen to her, Haru," said Long Feng calmly. "I am the leader of the Dai Li. I am merely capturing her because she is a threat to the earth kingdom. Just look who she is traveling with." He made a motion that launched Zuko to his feet, where he was held still by two Dai Li. Zuko groaned in pain as his arm was jostled.

"The_ prince _of the fire nation," he said smugly.

* * *

Zuko flinched as his identity was revealed.

_So I could've bended the entire time…they knew who I was…_

Earth Bastard Number 1 looked at Long Feng disbelievingly. "No…Katara wouldn't do that!" He looked at her. "Would you?" She looked away, and tears streaming from her eyes.

Long Feng took out a wanted poster for Zuko and Iroh, and gave it to Haru. "If that wasn't answer enough for you needed, then this should be."

Haru looked back and forth between the poster and Zuko. Then he dropped it, and turned to Katara.

"How could you do this, Katara?" he asked, sounding heart-broken. "After what the fire nation did to you? After what they did to the world?"

Katara was crying harder now. "No, Haru, you have to understand! Zuko isn't like other firebenders! He wants the war to end just as much as we do." She lowered her voice a little. "He has honor."

Katara saw Zuko move from the corner of her eye. She glanced at him, and he stared back at her, his golden eyes boring into her blue ones.

_Thank you_, he mouthed at her.

She smiled at him, and turned back to Haru, her voice a little stronger. The earthbender was now looking between Katara and Zuko suspicion and disbelief writing on his face. "I have trusted him with my life, and he has proved himself worthy of my trust many times." Haru's eyes closed for a second, and when he opened them, they were hard with anger and betrayal. He turned to Long Feng.

"I would be honored to assist the Dai Li, sir, if you would have me."

Katara let out a strangled "no."

Long Feng smiled. "It would be _my_ honor, Haru."

* * *

Zuko listened as Katara stood up for him against one of her oldest friends, hardly hoping it to be true.

"…He has honor."

He twitched with surprise.

_That means a lot, coming from her._

Katara glanced at him, and he mouthed 'thank you.' He meant it.

She smiled at him, and his heart soared. _She smiled at me…_

"I have trusted him with my life, and he has proved himself worthy of my trust many times." He was almost weak with happiness, until The First Earth Bastard turned to The Second Earth Bastard.

"I would be honored to assist the Dai Li, sir, if you would have me."

"No," Katara whispered tearfully.

The Other Earth Bastard smiled. "It would be _my_ honor, Haru."

At this Zuko tried to inconspicuously get free, but the second he moved, the Dai Li jerked his broken arm savagely. Stars exploded in front of his eyes, and he screamed in pain, collapsing on the ground again.

_So much for no weakness…_

Katara rushed tried to move to him, but was held back by Long Feng. She struggled ferociously, still crying.

"Let me go!" she demanded. "He's hurt! I need to heal him."

_She really cares…_

He was yanked up by his good arm. The jolt still sent waves of pain running through his arm, and he staggered.

"Do you really think we would let him be healed? We're not even letting him into the city! No, we are taking care of this Fire Nation brat _right now_."

Katara's blood ran cold when she heard Long Feng say that.

_No…he's in no condition to fight! This is my fault! How could I be so stupid as to not see __through that stupid brainwashing thing _again?

_**Even if he was healthy, do you think they would kill him in a fair fight? No, this is going to be an execution.**_

Katara was panicking.

_There has to be something I can do! Some way to give him the tiniest chance to escape!_

_**Hmm…different question…same solution…**_

Katara's eyes met Haru's for a moment. In the gaze, she put every ounce of pain, fear, and pleading she could muster - with just a drop of trust, for good measure.

_Haru must still have some feelings for me…if he really cares, maybe he'll stop them from hurting Zuko…please oh please…_

Katara glanced at Zuko, her heart torn with fear and apprehension. When she looked back at Haru, his gaze had hardened.

He turned to Long Feng, and Katara's heart soared.

_Will he do it?_

"Sir, I'd like to be the one to take care of the firebender." He looked at Katara again. "It's a bit of a personal grudge, you see."

"NO!" Katara couldn't help but scream. She struggled wildly against Long Feng, trying to get to Haru.

"Haru, you bastard, don't you dare lay a finger on him! I'll kill you if you touch him."

She finally made contact with her thrashing legs, and Long Feng let her go with a grunt of pain.

She fell, then rushed at Zuko, her arms still behind her. She threw herself towards him, only to be caught by a recovered Long Feng.

"Muzzle her," he said dispassionately. "She's going to wake up the village."

One of the Dai Li produced a gag and covered her mouth. She was reduced to muffled curses and promises of disembowelment to anyone and everyone in on this when she got free.

Long Feng spoke to Haru. "Finish him off."

* * *

A/N – Hee hee…I less than three cliffies. Told you this was more dramatic! Sorry to those of you who wanted more Katara and Haru action, but I've never actually written anything like that before. And I have a sort of mental block to anything that involves Katara and anyone but Zuko making out. Yes, I know I'm weird.

And now that my muse is back online, I'll try to get the chapter done ASAP. I've already trued to start it like 4 times, and its really emo. Since I don't want it to be too depressing, I have to keep trying.

Anyway, R&R!

Zukofangirl0802


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: YAY! CHAPTER 4! Warning – really bad fight scene coming up. And Haru OCCness so bad it killed my cat when I read it to her.

And this chapter is more depressing than my other ones, for some reason. I don't exactly know why, it just came out that way.

* * *

"_Muzzle her," he said dispassionately. "She's going to wake up the entire village."_

One of the Dai Li produced a gag and covered her mouth. She was reduced to muffled curses and promises of disembowelment to anyone and everyone in on this when she got free.

_Long Feng spoke to Haru. "Finish him off."_

* * *

Zuko stared at the Bastard Earthbender, feeling slightly delirious. 

_So…I'm about to die. That's nice…_

He drifted in and out of awareness, his loose grip on consciousness making for some weird hallucinations.

"Muzzle her," said Momo in a deep voice. "She's going to wake up the entire village." He pointed with his tail at a jumble of houses on the ground that appeared to be snoring.

Aang grinned widely, and blasted a large possum-chicken into Katara the ostrich-horse's mouth.

Momo turned to Sokka, who was wearing a dress and a belt that matched his bag.

"Finish him off."

Then, Katara the ostrich-horse swallowed the chicken, and began to sing.

_Ugh…she's awful. It just sounds like she's screaming._

His common sense slapped him firmly across both cheeks.

_FOCUS YOU IDIOT!!!!!_ it screamed.

Zuko snapped back into reality, and looked around rather sheepishly. Luckily for him, no one had noticed his temporary lapse of sanity. They were too busy looking at Katara.

She was not singing. (She wasn't an ostrich horse either, for that matter). She was screaming, through her gag, obviously hoping someone, _anyone_, would come to help them.

Zuko glanced around the clearing quickly, hoping there was someway out. But no, of course. Even though the Dai Li where distracted with Katara screaming, they still stayed at their posts around the top of the hill. Zuko lay about a foot from the lone tree, his head resting on a knobby root. A few feet away, the two Bastards who had held him earlier stood, looking over at the other guards trying to quiet Katara. The First and Second Earth Bastards were standing a few feet further away, also watching Katara, and whispering to each other. He listened to them.

"We can't keep her here," the Second Bastard said. "She's making too much noise, and if we knock her out the Avatar will be suspicious when she gets back."

The First Bastard didn't reply – he merely stared at her, throwing hate-filled glances at Zuko every once in a while.

The Second Bastard seemed to come to a decision. "I'll take the girl ahead to Lake Laogai. You can catch up with us, after you take care of _that_." He gestured carelessly at Zuko, still lying on the ground. His heart rate sped up.

_Surely the Earth Bastard isn't _that _foolish _he thought incredulously. _I can still take on that lousy excuse for a bender! Even _with _my arm broken!_

At the thought, he shifted excitedly, ready to kill That Bastard That Had Hurt Katara (it didn't occur to him that he also wanted to kill him because he had _not _hurt Katara, and kissed her, but Zuko's slow like that.)

He began to meditate, closing his eyes and readying himself for the combat…

* * *

Katara ignored the pain in her throat as she took another deep breath, readying herself for a deep scream. 

She watched as Zuko seemed to fall asleep on the ground, his eyes closing and his muscles relaxing.

_Now he's fainted! I have to save him, I have to get someone here…_she repeated in her head, not caring that if the villagers hadn't heard her before, they definitely wouldn't hear her now that she was gagged.

In mid-scream, she was caught by a Dai Li operative. He brutally grabbed her arms, still bound, and lifted them over her head.

Katara let out a real scream, this time of pain, as one of her shoulders was dislocated.

She was supported by two members, and could vaguely hear Long Feng telling Haru good luck, and then being dragged off. She opened her eyes, desperate to get one last look at Zuko.

Her eyes bore into his, praying that he would feel the heat of her gaze and awake. But his eyes stayed closed, and she cried as he disappeared over the hill.

* * *

Zuko watched through lidded eyes as Katara was dragged off the hill, tears streaming down her face again. He wanted nothing more than to reach out to her, to tell her that he was going to be fine, and he would not let anything ever happen to her ever again. But to maintain the element of surprise on that Earth Bastard, he needed to appear unconscious. 

With the thought of the traitorous boy, he stifled the urge to jump up and stab him in the gut. That would not be honorable, and he knew that no matter what he did, Katara would not want him hurt. The same couldn't be said for Zuko, though. Besides, his swords were on the other side of the tree.

His thoughts and pseudo-meditation were rudely interrupted by a vicious kick to his ribs.

He rolled over a few times with the force of the kick, letting out a moan when his arm was jostled.

Zuko glared up at the Earth Bastard with pure hatred. The Bastard responded to the evil look with the same.

"Kicking someone when he's down. Very honorable, bastard," Zuko snarled sarcastically as he tried to rise to his feet.

The earthbender gave a dry laugh. "Honorable? You're a firebender. I should crush you right now, without even fighting you. Be glad I only kicked you."

Zuko got to his feet, and tried to take a defensive position as best as he could with the broken arm. He tried to get to his swords, hoping he could use them to pin The Bastard to the tree or something. But as soon as he spotted their precise location, the earthbender sent a rock flying at him. Zuko dodged to blow barely, and started to circle around to where the swords were.

"So," he said, trying to distract The Bastard, "are you only trying to kill me because I'm a firebender? Or is there something else? Katara, maybe…?"

The Earth Bastard's face contorted with rage. "DON'T TALK ABOUT HER!" he screamed, punching a boulder he had just summoned so furiously that it dissolved into dust. "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO SPEAK HER NAME!"

Zuko grinned inwardly. He wasn't very fond of mind games, but this bastard deserved all the suffering he could dish out.

"If you want _Katara_ to like you, you're going about it completely wrong," he said casually, dodging another boulder as he echoed Sokka's words from earlier that day. "_Katara_ hates your guts right now."

Haru snarled, throwing a large slab of rock, large enough that Zuko couldn't get out of the way fast enough. It sliced his face, opening a wound from his right earlobe, down his check to the corner of his lip. Zuko gasped at the pain, hoping that is wasn't so deep that he lost enough blood to faint.

"You don't deserve her." Haru whispered viciously. "_I_ am the on the side of good! _I _am on the right side in this war! How could she fall for a firebending bastard like _you_!?" On the last word, he raised a column of earth under Zuko, flinging him in the air and into the lone tree.

_Damn not hurting him! _Zuko thought, attempting to hold his arm and back at the same time as he struggled to his feet. _I don't care what Katara thinks at this point. I need to stop The Bastard from killing me!_

Zuko took a deep breath, shifting into the familiar firebending stance. He summoned a fireball with his good arm, and carefully aimed at the charging earthbender. Zuko shot the fire at him with a roar.

Haru blocked the flame at the last second, summoning an earth wall and flinging it at Zuko. He rolled to avoid it, getting closer and closer to one of the swords that was lying at the base of the tree. Just as he reached it, four boulders, one on each side of him, rose out of the ground. Zuko stared at them as they froze for a moment, then gasped and dropped as they slammed together, inches above his head.

_Shit,_ Zuko thought. _The earthbender is faster than he looks. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…_

The constant swearing in his mind actually seemed to calm him down a bit.

_Who knew?_ Zuko thought as he stood up and swung his single sword, destroying the boulder flying at him. _Cursing _is _good for you._ (A/N – AMEN)

* * *

Katara sat in the metal wagon the Dai Li were transporting her in, sobbing her eyes out both from the pain in her shoulder and the fact that Zuko was _dead_. 

_DEAD_. The word seemed to echo in her mind, taunting her.

_I couldn't save him, its my fault he's gone, I couldn't save him, I couldn't save him…_she repeated over and over in her head.

Her common sense came in again, it's "voice" gentler than normal.

**_Don't blame yourself, Katara. If its anyone's fault, it's the Dai Li's. They were the ones who actually ki- did the deed._**

Instead of being comforted, Katara started crying harder. Images flashed through her mind – Zuko, bloodied and beaten, Zuko, crushed under boulders, Zuko –

Katara welcomed the comfort of unconsciousness as she, in the long tradition of damsels in distress, fainted.

* * *

Zuko panted, feeling the pain of all his injuries coming back as the adrenaline rush began to wear off. He just prayed that The Earthbending Bastard was tiring as quickly as he was. Like an answer to his prayer, a boulder twice the size of his battered body flung itself at him. Behind it, The Bastard stared at him with hatred, with only a few cuts and burns as a testimony of their fight.

_Gods_, Zuko thought more calmly than he thought possible, _I know my family is evil, but _must_ you take your anger out on me?!_

As Zuko dodged, getting slower and slower with each sidestep, he noticed that the rocks The Bastard had were flinging at him were herding him. No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, Zuko was being pushed back towards the tree.

Suddenly, the earth began to shake, as the earthbender spread his hands out, parallel to the ground. Zuko stared as he tried to get his balance back on the trembling ground.

_So The Bastard can make an earthquake. Who knew?_

As he staggered back, he tripped over a root. Zuko gasped at the sudden pain in his ankle, falling onto the tree and hurting his other various injuries. He panted, leaning against the tree and breathing deeply, trying to ignore the waves of pain coming from his arm, ribs, ankle, and face.

Before he could recover, The Bastard had rushed forward and pinned him on the tree. At first, he struggled, but a firm hand squeezing his broken arm stopped him. He watched The Earth Bastard, waiting for the killing blow.

* * *

Sokka stared into the night, waiting for Zuko to return. He had become bored with his interrogation of Toph and Aang after about fifteen minutes of evasive answers, knowing looks, and girlish giggles (the girlish giggles, were, of course, from Aang). He really hated not knowing things, but he sensed that this was one encounter that he didn't want to hear about. 

Anyway, he had watched the woods for three hours now, but Zuko had failed to return.

Sokka smiled an evil little smile to himself as he thought about how well his plan went off that night.

_Zuko is so gullible._ Sokka thought mischievously. _Of course I was going to follow Katara! What else are big brothers for but tagging along on dates? But there was always a chance that I would get caught, and she would beat me up._

He shuddered a bit, imagining his baby sister's wrath.

_All I had to do was push Zuko in the right direction, and voila! A brand new guard-dog!_

After rubbing his hands together and cackling with glee some more (earning him strange looks from Momo and Appa), he resumed looking for the two teenagers.

Another ten minutes passed, and Sokka stood up.

_Okay, that's it. I'm going to get them._

He saddled up Appa, and flew towards the village, looking for any suspicious activity.

* * *

_The scene might look a little funny if you just walked into the clearing. _Zuko thought, glaring at The Bastard. _I mean, I am extremely strong and manly. And The Bastard just looks kinda of wimpy and girly…maybe I should start calling him The Bitch…_

Zuko was pinned against the tree, his knees slightly buckled so he was looking at The Bastard face to face. Said Bastard's mouth was in a feral snarl, one of his hands holding Zuko's broken arm and the other grasping an earth dagger. But his eyes…

Unlike the last time Zuko had looked into the earthbender's eyes, his emotions were there to be seen very clearly. First and foremost was anger, then disgust, then hurt, and then…hesitation?

Yep, there was definitely some hesitation in the eyes.

_So The Bastard isn't totally confident! He might not kill me!_

"Are you really going to kill me?" asked Zuko, barely more than a whisper. He kept his face blank, but he was mentally praying to all of the gods that he was right, and saying something wouldn't push him over the edge.

The green eyes hardened, loosing all emotions but anger.

Damn. 

Zuko felt a bit apprehensive, but mostly angry.

_I've made it through so much. How can it really be my fate to die alone and helpless at the hands of a mediocre earthbender who has a vendetta against me because the girl I like doesn't totally despise me?_

He paused while he pondered this.

_My. Life. Sucks._

Zuko almost thought he heard a chuckle from the inner recesses of his mind, but he pushed it away.

_If only I could get enough energy to push him off me…stupid adrenaline rush. Wearing off when I need you the_ _most._

The Bastard smirked, raising the dagger a bit higher.

"I was thinking about sparing you, because it's the right thing to do. But I really can't have you competing for Katara against me, can I? When we brainwash her, I'll just make sure any memories she has of you are…washed away…"

A feeling Zuko recognized immediately came through him. He smiled as his energy came rushing back.

_Oh, jealousy, _he thought happily as he mentally stroked the little green monster. _What would I do without you?_

It roared in response and attacked a little dummy of Haru he had set up in its cage.

_Good idea. Less thanking, more ass-kicking._

Zuko roared, pushing The Bastard off of him and blocking the dagger with his sword, flipping it out of his hands. Then he grabbed him, pushed him against the tree, and held the sword to his throat.

"I don't think so," he said, smiling triumphantly, and hit The Bastard temple with the sword butt. Hard.

The Bastard's look of shock remained as his green eyes rolled back into his head, and he crumpled to the ground.

Zuko staggered back, and then leaned on his sword as he surveyed the scene. Huge chunks of earth were torn out of the ground, coupled by small scorch marks everywhere. And at the base of the tree lay The Bastard Earthbender, out cold. A little part of him dearly wanted to kick him (and break his arm, and slash his face, and…). His hand twitched towards his sword, but he took a deep breath.

_Mercy and honor_. _Two things I have that The Bastard does not. Lets keep it that way, shall we?_

Zuko shifted his weight off of his sword, and groaned. He had forgotten how much pain he was in. Gritting his teeth, he tried to take a step in the direction Katara had vanished to, and nearly screamed. His foot and arm let out throbs in unison, and almost fell to his knees.

_Okay, I wont be able to go after her. But maybe I can make it back to the camp and tell the others…_

With this idea firmly lodged in his brain, he began a sort of limp-jog towards the camp, but he felt his energy draining away slowly…

He was moving down the path when he tripped over a rock and fell on his face.

Rolling onto his back, he tried to get up again, but was to weak.

For the first time in a while, he let a tear escape his unscarred eye.

_I'm sorry, Katara. I couldn't save you…_

As darkness overcame him, he had no idea that a few miles away, Katara was thinking the same thing about him…

* * *

THE END

A/N: Lol, just kidding. I know this chapter was really really short, but I just wanted to get _something_ up before I died from guilt. I promise I will not take as long to get the next chapter up. I just had losta trouble with this one because of the fight scene. As you can tell by its awfulness, I am good at dialogue, and that's it.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! AND REVIEW!!!!!

Will Sokka find Zuko in time?

How will the gaang fight off the Dai Li?

Will Zuko and Katara make out soon?

ALL THESE QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED IN THE NEXT ADDITION OF ZUKO'S JEALOUSY!!!!! (confetti)


End file.
